Easy Living is an album by jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 saxophonist Sonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins

Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...

, released on the Milestone

Milestone Records

Milestone Records is a United States based jazz record label, founded in 1966 by Orrin Keepnews and Dick Katz in New York City. The company was incorporated into Fantasy Records in 1972, since then it has been used for reissues as well as for new recordings....

 label in 1977, featuring performances by Rollins with George Duke

George Duke

George Duke is a multi-faceted American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He has worked with numerous acclaimed artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and professor of music...

, Paul Jackson

Paul Jackson (bassist)

Paul Jackson is an American jazz bass guitarist and composer. He has played with many of the great jazz artists, most notably playing bass on several of Herbie Hancock's seminal albums, Head Hunters, Thrust, and others. He was born in Oakland, California and began playing bass at the age of nine...

 and Tony Williams with Byron Miller and Bill Summers added on one track and Charles Icarus Johnson on two.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow

Scott Yanow

Scott Yanow is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.-Biography:...

 states "One of Sonny Rollins' better recordings of the 1970s, this spirited Milestone set finds the veteran tenor saxman adopting a thicker and raunchier R&B-ish tone".

Track listing

All compositions by Sonny Rollins except as indicated

1. "Isn't She Lovely?" (Stevie Wonder
   Stevie Wonder
   Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
   
   ) - 6:39
2. "Down the Line" - 7:59
3. "My One and Only Love
   My One and Only Love
   "My One and Only Love" is a popular song with music written by Guy Wood and lyrics by Robert Mellin. The song was published in 1952.It was recorded by Frank Sinatra on May 2, 1953 and released on Capitol 2505.- Cover versions :...
   
   " (Robert Mellin, Guy Wood
   Guy Wood
   Guy B Wood was a musician and composer of songs. He was born in Manchester, England and moved to the United States in the 1930s...
   
   ) - 5:05
4. "Arroz con Pollo" - 5:37
5. "Easy Living
   Easy Living (song)
   "Easy Living" is a jazz standard written by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin for the film Easy Living directed by Mitchell Leisen.The song has been recorded by many jazz performers including Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, Anita O'Day, and Miles Davis...
   
   " (Ralph Rainger
   Ralph Rainger
   Ralph Rainger was an American composer of popular music principally for films.-Biography:Born Ralph Reichenthal in New York City, Rainger embarked on a legal career before escaping to Broadway where he became Clifton Webb's accompanist...
   
   , Leo Robin
   Leo Robin
   Leo Robin was an American composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Oscar-winning song "Thanks for the Memory," sung by Bob Hope in the film The Big Broadcast of 1938.-Biography:Robin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and...
   
   ) - 6:09
6. "Hear What I'm Saying" - 9:40
   • Recorded at Fantasy Studios
     Fantasy Studios
     Fantasy Studios is a recording studio in Berkeley, California at the Zaentz Media Center, known for its recording of award-winning albums such as Journey's Escape and Green Day's Dookie. Built as a private recording studio for artists on the Fantasy Records label in 1971, it was opened to the...
     
     , Berkeley, CA, on August 3–6, 1977

Personnel

• Sonny Rollins
  Sonny Rollins
  Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
  
   – tenor saxophone
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  , soprano saxophone
  Soprano saxophone
  The soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
  
  
• George Duke
  George Duke
  George Duke is a multi-faceted American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He has worked with numerous acclaimed artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and professor of music...
  
   – piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , electric piano
  Electric piano
  An electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
  
  
• Tony Williams – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Paul Jackson
  Paul Jackson (bassist)
  Paul Jackson is an American jazz bass guitarist and composer. He has played with many of the great jazz artists, most notably playing bass on several of Herbie Hancock's seminal albums, Head Hunters, Thrust, and others. He was born in Oakland, California and began playing bass at the age of nine...
  
   – electric bass
  Electric Bass
  Electric bass can mean:*Electric upright bass, the electric version of a double bass*Electric bass guitar*Bass synthesizer*Big Mouth Billy Bass, a battery-powered singing fish...
  
   (tracks 2-4 & 6)
• Charles Icarus Johnson – guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
   (tracks 1 & 2)
• Byron Miller – electric bass
  Electric Bass
  Electric bass can mean:*Electric upright bass, the electric version of a double bass*Electric bass guitar*Bass synthesizer*Big Mouth Billy Bass, a battery-powered singing fish...
  
   (track 1)
• Bill Summers – congas (track 1)